'gifts Of Grace'

SERMON OUTLINE:

TIME to EVALUIATE:

• know yourself (vs 3)

• accept yourself (vs 3)

TIME to FUNCTION:

• the theory (vs 4-5)

• the practice (vs 6-8)

TIME to DISCOVER:

• be informed

• be open

• be available

• be sensitive.

Time to EXPLAIN:

• the gift of prophecy (vs 6)

• the gift of serving (vs 7)

• the gift of teaching (vs 7)

• the gift of encouraging (vs 8)

• the gift of giving (vs 8)

• the gift of leadership (vs 8)

• the gift of showing mercy (vs 8)

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• The man in the photograph is Austrian-born violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler,

• He was one of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day,

• And regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time,

• Go online and listen to a YouTube clip called:

• Kreisler: 2 hours of Perfection - 38 short pieces

• Link: https://youtu.be/Z_x5vxLevHw?si=OI8SHh5j5L9uUJQW

• (joke: not many of us have our work called, perfection!)

• The story is told that on one occasion a fan rushed up to him after a concert and cried:

• "I'd give my life to play as beautifully as you do."

• Kreisler looked her in the eye and replied, "I did."

• Nothing that is valuable is achieved without effort.

• And on another occasion, Fritz Kreisler said.

"Narrow is the road that leads to the life of a violinist.

Hour after hour, day after day and week after week, for years, I lived with my violin.

There were so many things that I wanted to do that I had to leave undone; there were so many places I wanted to go that I had to miss if I was to master the violin.

The road that I travelled was a narrow road and the way was hard."

• TRANSITION: That is commitment to a cause,

• And I tell you this that Jesus demands no less a commitment!

Ill:

• Verse 1 of this chapter (#12) starts off with the word, “Therefore.”

• For eleven chapters the apostle Paul has been explaining God’s great plan of salvation.

• Now says the apostle Paul, If God has done all that for you…

• What will you give back to him?

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

• God requires our bodies, our minds and our wills,

• Cimmitted to him in dedication and service.

Now, this morning, we are looking at grace or spiritual gifts.

• But if we are not right regarding verses 1&2,

• Which we looked at last week,

• We are not going to be effective regarding verses 3-8!

Note:

• Verse 1: Consecration – our choice to be set apart for God's use.

• Verse 2: Transformation – automatically happens, when we are obeying God.

• That leads onto Evaluation (vs 3).

• Where the Apostle Paul teaches us to think in a balanced way.

(1). Time to Evaluate (vs 3)

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

• Question: How do we evaluate?

• Answer: twofold.

(a). Know yourself: “Sound / sober judgement”

• It is rare to find someone who really knows themselves,

• And who really accepts themselves.

• We tend to gravitate towards two extremes.

FIRST Mistake: We think more highly than we ought to think.

ill:

A little poem:

"Sometime when you’re feeling important,

Sometime when your ego's way up,

Sometime when you take it for granted,

that you’re the prize-winning pup.

Sometime when you feel your absence

will leave an infallible hole,

Just follow these simple instructions

and see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,

Put your hand in it up to the wrist,

Now pull it out fast, and the hole that remains

is the measure of how you'll be missed.

You may splash all you please as you enter

and stir up the water galore,

But stop and you'll find in a minute

It's right back to where, it was once before".

That's good for some of us to memorise and remember:

• I would rather be a pillar in my local Church,

• Then be a caterpillar (creeping in and out).

• But there is only one person who is indispensable in this Church.

• And that is Christ, the head!

• He alone is to be pre-eminent.

• And when we realise that the Church didn’t depend on me doing everything,